Tollermania events at the Diesel Dog Ranch

Hi, my name is Dan Barnhill. In 2007 I introduced a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever into my live, this is where this story begins. Diesel led a charmed life, going to work with me everyday and weekends at the cottage that involved constant adventures. Our adventures were always documented on social media and over his lifetime he had a significant following. Sadly I lost him to pulmonary hypertension in April of 2021 , a month short of his 14th birthday, this was devastating to me. I continued to share stories of our adventures after his passing, then one day out of the blue, someone posted “ hey we are visiting Nova Scotia next October, would you mind if we visit the Diesel Dog Ranch and meet you “. My response was sure, come for a visit , we will walk the trails and have a Barbecue!

little did I know within a month this gathering would grow to five hundred people from eleven countries around the world, and become the largest gathering of Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever’s in the world.

We are headed into our fourth annual event, we consistently draw an average attendance of five hundred people and close to four hundred dogs for three days each October. The event has the atmosphere of a family gathering, but we also have trials showcase the versatility of these dogs and a live auction that people donate items to, to raise money for rescues. To date we have raised $47,000.00 which has been divided between Toller Rescue Inc and ElderDog Canada.

So why am here? I am developing the property each year to grow the event. We’ve added ponds for the dogs to swim in, walking trails and campsites. I have plans for continuing development for the next five years and plan to have a network of walking trails of roughly five kilometres when completed, as well as more campsites for visitors. I would like to raise $100,000 to purchase an excavator to complete this project, once the work is finished the machine will be sold and the money divided between Toller Rescue Inc and ElderDog Canada.

I will admit it’s a strange hobby to invite the world to your backyard for a weekend, but it’s for a worthy cause and it’s a great feeling to see everyone come together and enjoy the experience. A simple Google search of Tollermania will show a few stores and news articles, East Link TV filmed an episode of. Dogs Life here at the first event that can be seen on YouTube, A Dogs Life S1E4 Tollermania.

Thank you in advance, Dan